8.55am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Once again events in Syria and Libya dominate the news.

Syria

•Syrian tanks have opened fire on poor Sunni districts in Latakia, residents said, on the fourth day of a military assault on the northern port city aimed at crushing protests against Bashar al-Assad, the president. "Heavy machine-gun fire and explosions were hitting al-Raml al-Filistini [home to Palestinian refugees] and al-Shaab this morning. This subsided and now there is the sound of intermittent tank fire," one of the residents, who lives near the two districts, told Reuters by phone. More than 5,000 Palestinian refugees have fled al-Raml al-Filistini, the UN said. The Syrian Revolution Coordinating Union, a grassroots activists' group, said six people, including Ahmad Soufi, 22, were killed in Latakia on Monday, bringing the civilian death toll there to 34, including a two-year-old girl. The global campaign group Avaaz put the number killed in Latakia on Monday at 21 - it says it has names - with at least 49 injured including six women and seven children.

•The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has told Assad to halt such military operations now or face unspecified consequences. In Turkey's strongest warning to its once close ally, he said:

This is our final word to the Syrian authorities: our first expectation is that these operations stop immediately and unconditionally. If these operations do not stop, there will be nothing left to say about the steps that would be taken.

Libya

•Libyan government forces have fired a Scud missile for the first time since the conflict with rebels began, according to US defence officials. No one was hurt. The missile launch was detected by US forces shortly after midnight on Sunday and the Scud landed in the desert about 50 miles (80km) outside Brega, an official told the Associated Press. According to the military, the Scud missile was launched from a location about 50 miles (80km) east of Sirte, a city on the Mediterranean coast about 230 miles (370km) east of Tripoli. Noting that Scuds are not precision guided missiles, officials said they could not tell if Brega was the target.

Early in the conflict, Nato and US forces targeted sites around the country where Muammar Gaddafi stored surface-to-surface missiles like Scuds, largely because they were worried that he would use them to target areas beyond his control. Two senior US officials said it was too early to tell whether the Scud strike was a singular incident or whether it represented a new phase of fighting. Scuds have a range of up to 500 miles (800km).

There were clashes near the Ras Ajdir border crossing with Tunisia, and opposition forces were reported to be pushing towards Tripoli from the south having taken the strategic crossroads of Ghariyan over the weekend. Control of Ghariyan, in the Nafusa highlands, cuts off Tripoli from the Gaddafi stronghold of Sabha in the south. The multi-pronged offensive was an attempt by rebel commanders to cut off Tripoli's supply lines and regain the initiative after the killing of their military leader Abdul Fatah Younis.

•The White House said it is "becoming increasingly clear that Gaddafi's days are numbered". US officials speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press there is reason to think the rebels may now have enough momentum to wrest full control of the country.

Bahrain

•A royal fact-finding committee formed to investigate the Bahrain protests has reached the conclusion that no crimes against humanity were committed by the government against the protesters, al-Arabiya reports:

Crimes against humanity require two factors in order to be proven: they have to be systematic and political. None of those applied to the events that took place in Bahrain, said committee head Dr Mahmoud Sherif Basyouni.

"There was no proof whatsoever of crimes against humanity and had there been any, I would have definitely written that in my report," he told the Bahraini newspaper Al Ayam.

Tunisia

•Police used tear gas and truncheons to break up a demonstration in the Tunisia capital as protesters tried to hold a rally at the same time as an authorised march. The BBC reports:

Police said 2,000 people took part in the authorised demonstration, which had been called by the General Workers' Union (UGTT), which continued outside the city centre.

Eyewitnesses said that the hundreds who had tried to hold the unauthorised rally near the interior ministry headquarters had been shouting for a "new revolution" and denounced Tunisia's interim government.

9.38am:Nour Ali has news of a campaign by activists to target western investors in Syria:

Syrian activists say they are this week planning to launch a media campaign against European oil companies working in Syria, including Total and Shell. They plan to lobby the companies to cease working there using a fierce media campaign that will equate the firms with murderers, with signs showing pictures of shot Syrian protesters next to the companies' logos.

Protesters and the opposition, still fragmented and facing an overwhelming show of force, have been looking to the economy to put pressure on Damascus. Oil is the biggest earner of foreign currency for the Syrian regime, despite its current exports - some 148,000 barrels of around 390,000 produced each day - being small by international standards. France, Italy and Germany are the main purchasers.

Last week US secretary of state Hillary Clinton urged the international community to stop trading with Syria and backed the idea of oil and gas sanctions. Some analysts, such as Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, have argued that targeting the energy sector is the most effective way to further squeeze the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Others have expressed reservations that such sanctions would hurt ordinary Syrians by pushing the prices of fuel up.

An online petition launched last week by citizen journalist and human rights group Avaaz calling for EU oil sanctions has currently attracted over 355,000 signatures.

9.58am: Here are a couple of videos uploaded overnight onto YouTube, purporting to be of the assault on Latakia by Syrian forces yesterday.

10.36am: In Bahrain, the royal fact-finding committee formed to investigate protests in the Gulf state that apparently found that no crimes against humanity were committed by the government (see 8.55am) has been forced to close its office to visitors bringing in complaints after protesters mobbed it.

But there is confusion over the extent to which this was an official conclusion reached by the committee.

Bahrain's king invited the panel, headed by international law professor Sherif Basyouni, to examine charges of widespread torture and abuse by security forces during two months of martial law after pro-democracy unrest was suppressed.

Basyouni recently praised the co-operation of the Bahraini interior minister and said he could see no policy of excessive use of force or torture. This infuriated Bahrain's majority Shia Muslims, who dominated this year's protests and suffered most in the subsequent crackdown.

Yesterday the official Bahrain News Agency reported that the commission believed no "crimes against humanity" had been committed after Basyouni was quoted in a newspaper interview saying claims of torture would require proof. But the panel seems to be saying now that these were not "conclusions".

The panel said:

Hundreds of people forced their way into our office, having been angered over what they believed to be the commission chair's "conclusions" in the investigation. After attempting to accommodate the crowd by offering to take down their information in order to schedule appointments, some in the crowd became restless and verbally and physically threatened the staff. Individuals yelled insults, posted threatening messages on the office walls, sent threats via text and email, and even physically shoved and spat at a member of staff.

10.42am: At 1pm BST Carmen Romero, Nato's deputy spokesperson, and Colonel Roland Lavoie, a military spokesman, will brief the press on the situation in Libya. You can watch the press conference here.

10.43am:Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on the EU to freeze the assets of the Syrian National Oil Company, Syrian National Gas Company and the Central Bank of Syria until the Syrian government ends gross human rights abuses against its citizens. The group says it sent a letter to the EU high representative and foreign ministers of the 27 member states on 13 August urging them to swiftly impose such sanctions. Lotte Leicht, EU director at HRW, said:

Syria's authorities are still killing their own people despite multiple efforts by other countries, including former allies, to make them stop. It's time to show the government that Europeans won't help to fund its repression.

In its letter, HRW urged the EU to conduct regular reviews of the impact of sanctions to assess any potential humanitarian impact, and to tie the lifting of the sanctions to measures that demonstrate a change of policy by the government, such as an end to the use of excessive and lethal force against peaceful demonstrators, releasing all detainees held merely for participating in peaceful protests or for criticising the Syrian authorities, and full cooperation with the fact-finding mission mandated by the United Nations human rights council or other international mechanisms tasked with investigating alleged human rights violations.

An online petition launched last week by citizen journalist and human rights group Avaaz calling for EU oil sanctions has currently attracted over 355,000 signatures.

10.53am: Human Rights Watch has also written a letter to the Arab League urging it to hold an emergency meeting about the crackdown in Syria. It wants the league to to press Syria for unhindered access to the country for a UN-mandated fact-finding committee and for independent observers and journalists. Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director, said:

The region is changing, and so should the Arab League. To remain relevant, it should break from its history as a closed shop of autocrats who support each other's crimes, and start looking out for the interest of the citizens of its states. Syria's people, at this time of severe oppression, deserve to have their voices heard.

11.05am:Morocco's early elections have been scheduled for 25 November. The elections had been expected in late 2012 but they were pushed forward as part of democratic reforms following Arab spring protests in the kingdom.

11.26am: The heir to the Libyan throne has spoken out to pay tribute to the rebels in his country and predict that they would defeat Muammar Gaddafi soon.

When Gaddafi took power in 1969 he overthrew Libya's King Idris, and some rebels trying to overthrow Gaddafi today fly the old flag of the Kingdom of Libya.

Today Mohammed El Senussi, considered by Libyan royalists to be the heir to the old Libyan throne, issued a statement on his website praising the rebels, who he said represented "most of the nation" and were from "all over Libya", and saying he was confident they would be successful in ousting Gaddafi "sooner rather than later".

Senussi, who is based in London, has spoken out in favour of the rebels before during this year's Libyan conflict.

Asked on a previous occasion about the prospect of re-establishing the monarchy in Libya, Senussi has reportedly said that he "is a servant to Libyan people, and they decide what they want".

11.27am: The Syrian Revolution Coordination Union (SRCU) says 35 people have been confirmed killed in Latakia between 13 and 15 August but claims the real number is higher.

It also says that 360 people were killed by Syrian security services during the first 15 days of Ramadan.

That tally does not include people who were not identified by name, did not have a funeral or whose bodies were abducted and not returned to their relatives, it says.

The highest death toll so far during the Muslim holy month – which began on 1 August – was on Sunday 7 August when 76 people were killed, in Houla, near Homs, and in Deir Ezzor, according to the SCRU.

The group also points out that 130 people were killed in Hama, according to the SCRU, on 31 August, the eve of Ramadan, in what was the bloodiest day since the beginning of protests against the Assad regime.

11.38am: Steve Negus, a former journalist based in Egypt and Iraq who now writes the Flight of the Silwa blog, has attacked judge Ahmed Refaat's decision to bar TV cameras from the trial of Egypt's former dictator Hosni Mubarak. Negus writes:

I don't know what the judge's rationale was, but it's a pity. People everywhere really need to have an idea of what a criminal trial is like — why there's a burden of proof, why you go through all the procedures, why the conclusions you draw from reading the papers don't necessarily equate to proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Okay, even in highly courtroom-literate societies, not everyone is going to fully wrap their heads around the idea of "burden of proof", and why you protect the rights of the accused … But in Egypt, which has no tradition of televised trials, the idea that you need to go through extensive rigorous procedures, evaluating evidence, to pronounce someone guilty of an offence, is still pretty tenuous.

However, in addition to the TV issue, Egyptian trials are hard to follow on their own terms. Lots of key evidence is presented primarily in written form, so you don't have the "reading into the record" which makes US trials comparably easy to follow. I think this is a problem with the French court trial system in general, not just Egypt's version thereof.

11.47am: Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute has said that Muammar Gaddafi's firing a Scud missile is evidence of the Libyan government's desperation. Joshi told Reuters: "It's an obvious sign that the regime's back is to the wall." Scuds are notoriously inaccurate.

In Benghazi, rebel officials said the firing of the missile was a sign Gaddafi would do anything to protect his power. Mohammad Zawawi, media director for the rebels, said:

Gaddafi troops are using his last gun. He's crazy. We're scared he'll use chemicals. That's why we're trying to end this war and we hope to end it with the least number of casualties. We can't prevent the scuds but we hope Nato can. Nato has the technology to detect them.

Ahmad Mousavi intends to leave Syria at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which is due to finish on or around 29 August. Iranian opposition website the Green Voice of Freedom suggests:

The move will undoubtedly be interpreted by many as yet another sign that the days of another Middle Eastern dictatorship are numbered. Citing an unnamed Iranian diplomat, Kaleme said Iranian embassy personnel in Damascus were preparing to leave the country in case the Syrian regime collapses.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain have all withdrawn their ambassadors from Syria in protest against Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on protesters.

Iran's support has been important to Assad and the Green Voice claims Syrian officials "reacted distraughtly" to Mousavi's decision to leave, which the ambassador said was because he was preparing for a possible promotion or to stand for election in Iran.

But the website is also interesting on the negative effects for Iran caused by its support of the Syrian government. There is a "deep sense of discontent towards Iranians" among some Syrians, the Green Voice says. An unnamed diplomat told Kaleme: "Bashar Assad will either fall, or become pro-western, and in both cases, it will be to the detriment of Iran."

Opposition forces inside Zawiya, 35 miles (56km) from the capital, claim to be extending their grip on the coastal highway westwards towards the Tunisian border, Chris writes, while 300 miles east, rebel units are reported to have captured much of the oil town of Brega and be closing in on its refinery complex.

"We will win in Ramadan, I believe it," said Misratan fighter Mohammed Altaher el Malbrook, referring to the Islamic holy month due to end on or around 29 August. "In the Ramadan the magic of [Muammar] Gaddafi has gone. Ramadan is Allah, goodness."

Misrata's own siege feels all but over, with children playing in the streets after rebels overran government positions from where daily rocket attacks were launched against the city.

"Things are normal now," said English teacher Aisha Alifafer, 20. "It is strange, absolutely, after six months of war."

At the main casualty hospital, Majama Al Adat, male nurses in blue and green scrubs sit idly on stretchers in corridors that until last week were jammed with wounded fighters. "We are not so busy; it is a good feeling," said 20-year-old medic Abdul Fatah Alghammad.

Many in a city still under siege detect signs of despair in the Gaddafi regime, not least from Libyan state television, which has become required viewing here. There was laughter in coffee bars yesterday evening when state TV claimed government forces were advancing on the rebel capital, Benghazi, and had "two thirds" of Misrata under their control, claims at odds with reports from the ground.

"One sign of his [Gaddafi's] weakness is state television," said former Libyan diplomat and political exile Abdulrahman Mohammed Ben Naser, 65. "They are desperate, hysterical."

Nato jets now boom low over Misrata day and night, striking targets at Zlitan, on the west of the enclave, the only complaint from residents being about a sonic boom that made windows rattle.

"Now it's very near," said el Malbrook. "Gaddafi is a coward, he will not fight, he will run away."

12.49pm: Lavoie says the Libyan rebels are "quite clearly out of the Nafusa Mountains and moving along the flat area leading to the coast ... They are quite close [to Tripoli]. This is a considerable advance that they have made over the last few days."

12.51pm: Lavoie says "it would be very speculative to come with a number in terms of percentage" of support Muammar Gaddafi still has in Libya. But the ability of the regime to conduct "massive attacks" is clearly low. "Let's not jump to conclusions but let's observe that the Gaddafi forces had to retreat on a couple of fronts this week."

1.03pm: The Daily Mail reports today that Nato has begun a "Walls of Jericho" plan to knock down the walls of Muammar Gaddafi's compounds and homes. "Intelligence analysts believe that visibly destroying the barriers Gaddafi has hidden behind for four decades will encourage a coup," the paper reports.

But my colleague Peter Beaumont is sceptical, pointing out that the Mail's sourcing is thin and anonymous – "a single unnamed source whose claim the Guardian has been unable thus far to corroborate". Peter adds:

The plan itself somewhat far-fetched if you know Tripoli, and the evidence – from published details of Nato strikes – entirely absent. The reality is that the reported main targets of Nato sorties in recent days are, by and large, still what they were before: ammunition storage facilities, armoured vehicles and vehicle pounds with little to suggest that Nato has made a concerted new effort to level Gaddafi's compound or buildings housing his inner circle.

There are also practical problems with the alleged operation to bring down Gaddafi's walls. Vast as his Tripoli compound is, several busy, important roads skirt it, while there are residential areas a stone's throw from the walls themselves, making them an unlikely target.

1.13pm: Leigh Phillips reports that on Sunday, French, Danish and a number of other EU ambassadors requested a meeting of the EU's political and security committee this week to discuss upping the sanctions on Syria, in particular freezing oil and gas assets. The meeting is to go ahead although the precise date has yet to be decided. There are four countries that import oil and gas from Syria: France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. The country exports some 150,000 barrels a day, 95% of which is to Europe. The majority of Syrian fuel consumption is domestic, so it won't kill the industry, but it would freeze payments, curbing the ability of the government to pay the security forces engaging in the repression.

1.28pm: Amnesty International has condemned the arrest of Asmaa Mahfouz, one of the faces of Egypt's revolution, on charges of slandering and inciting violence against the country's ruling generals through social networking sites. The human rights group calls on the Egyptian authorities to drop the charges.

The incitement to violence charge apparently relates to this tweet about the slowness of trials from 10 August:

If the justice system does not give us our rights, nobody should be upset if armed groups emerge and carry out assassinations. As long at there is no law there is no justice, anything can happen and nobody should be upset.

Mahfouz denies the allegations and following her release on bail she reportedly told the Egyptian website Al-Masry Al-Youm: "I was only warning the military council that the absence of justice will lead to chaos."

Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's Middle East and north Africa director, said the comments "do not at all appear to represent a call to violence". He said the charges seem "intended to send a message to those critical of the authorities that dissent will not be tolerated". He also raised objections to Mahfouz's being tried by a military court, which would deprive her of "some of the basic guarantees of fair trial, including the right to appeal". The ruling generals have said that 10,000 civilians have been tried by military courts since Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down as president earlier this year.

1.33pm: In Hama, which was the first city to be targeted in the Syrian government's Ramadan assaults, residents say they are living under occupation, writes Nour Ali (a pseudonym):

A father in Hama who left during the assault on the city during the first few days of Ramadan and returned this week says other families have returned but that the city is under occupation by government forces and that locals are fearful.

"This is now an occupied city. There are security and army checkpoints everywhere. Some of the houses have been taken by soldiers," he said. "At the checkpoints they are checking names on a list and if you are on it you get arrested and taken. The killing is over right now - only sometimes is there gunfire - but it is now arrests. We don't hear from many of the people who are arrested; we don't know what has happened to them."

He said the city and market was open, but shutting early. "Everyone is fearful; you could be arrested or shot any time so shops shut early and we all stay at home after dark," he said, saying the streets were empty from late afternoon onwards. He estimated 70% of houses were inhabited now, with some 30% empty due to people having fled or been killed. "We don't think we've seen the worst yet in Syria. It's like a short introduction but the rest of the film is yet to come," the man said.

2.09pm: Here's a summary of the main developments so far today:

•Syrian security forces have been continuing their assault on the coastal city of Latakia for a fourth successive day, residents say. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights says 35 people have been confirmed killed on the first few days, while an LA Times Middle East correspondent says seven have been killed today. Reports suggest that thousands of people have been rounded up and taken to the city's sports stadium where they are being held incommunicado. More troops have also entered the central cities of Homs and Hama, according to al-Jazeera.

•Syrian activists say they are this week planning to launch a media campaign against European oil companies working in Syria, including Total and Shell. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on the EU to freeze the assets of the Syrian National Oil Company, Syrian National Gas Company and the Central Bank of Syria "until the Syrian government ends gross human rights abuses against its citizens".

•Libyan rebels inside Zawiya, 35 miles (56km) from the capital, claim to be extending their grip on the coastal highway westwards towards the Tunisian border, while 300 miles east, rebel units are reported to have captured much of the oil town of Brega and be closing in on its refinery complex. The White House said it is "becoming increasingly clear that [Muammar] Gaddafi's days are numbered" but a Nato spokesman urged caution.

•Libyan government forces have fired a Scud missile for the first time since the conflict with rebels began, according to US defence officials. No one was hurt. The missile launch was detected by US forces shortly after midnight on Sunday and the Scud landed in the desert about 50 miles (80km) outside Brega, an official told the Associated Press.

•Morocco's early elections have been scheduled for 25 November. The elections had been expected in late 2012 but they were pushed forward as part of democratic reforms following Arab spring protests in the kingdom.

•In Bahrain, the royal fact-finding committee formed to investigate protests in the Gulf state has been forced to close its office after being mobbed by protesters. It was besieged by complaints after reports that it had found no crimes against humanity were committed by the government.

2.33pm: The World Health Organisation said it hopes to begin shipping essential drugs to Libya within weeks after the Dutch government on Monday unfroze €100m (£88m) belonging to the Gaddafi regime.

A spokesman for the UN health agency body said the money would be used to purchase urgently needed supplies such as vaccines, insulin, chemotherapy medicine and dialysis drugs that have almost run out in the country after months of fighting.

Tarik Jasarevic said that once the funds arrive "we hope to ship some medicines in a couple of weeks but for others it could take longer".

He said Libya normally spends $500-700m (£305-£427m) per year on imported drugs and supplies.

A Turkish broadcaster said on Tuesday Turkey would set up a buffer zone on its border with Syria, but a Turkish government official said he had no such information. CNN Turk broadcast the news in a rolling headline but gave no source.

3.03pm: The UN's special envoy for Libya, Abdel-Elah al-Khatib, has said he is meeting with representatives of both sides of the conflict there. Al-Khatib, the former foreign minister of Jordan, arrived in Tunis yesterday for meetings with Muammar Gaddafi's representatives and those of the rebels. There were no direct negotiations, he said, as he met the two sides separately.

And Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah, the Libyan interior minister who arrived in Cairo with members of his family yesterday claiming to be there on holiday, was defecting, Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said. "He was under psychological and social pressure and he could not resist it, but the battle continues," said Ibrahim.

The Associated Press also reports residents "fleeing Tripoli in long lines of cars", presumably in fear of the civil war reaching the capital soon.

3.05pm: William Hague, the British foreign secretary, has welcomed King Abdullah of Jordan's changes to his country's constitution. Hague said: "Strengthening the rights of citizens and the parliamentary process will be important steps on the path of democratic reform. The king has called for parliament to agree amendments within a month, and we look forward to this as a concrete step on Jordan's path of reform."

3.14pm: The Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been recuperating in Saudi Arabia since an assassination attempt in June, has been making a televised speech. Saudi blogger Ahmed Al Omran has been tweeting details:

Saleh: I wanted to leave power in 2006, but the people of Yemen forced me to stay in power, and that's why I will sacrifice for #yemen.

Saleh: I warn those who pay money to destroy Yemen. Russia, China, Egypt & other countries are giving money to opposition. #yemen

Saleh: some opposition parties are being opportunistic, they are trying to take advantage of the youth's revolution. #yemen

He looks quite a bit better than he did when pictured in Riyadh in July (below right).

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images /AFP/Getty Images

The photograph above left shows him before the assassination attempt that forced him to seek medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.

Andrew Hammond tweeted:

that was one way more healthy saleh that appeared in that speech

4.00pm: I'm going to wrap up the blog for today. Here's a summary of the day's main developments.

Syria

•Syrian security forces have been continuing their assault on the coastal city of Latakia for a fourth successive day, residents say. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights says 35 people have been confirmed killed on the first few days, while an LA Times Middle East correspondent says seven have been killed today. Reports suggest that thousands of people have been rounded up and taken to the city's sports stadium where they are being held incommunicado. More troops have also entered the central cities of Homs and Hama, according to al-Jazeera.

•Syrian activists say they are this week planning to launch a media campaign against European oil companies working in Syria, including Total and Shell. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on the EU to freeze the assets of the Syrian National Oil Company, Syrian National Gas Company and the Central Bank of Syria "until the Syrian government ends gross human rights abuses against its citizens".

Libya

•Libyan rebels inside Zawiya, 35 miles (56km) from the capital, claim to be extending their grip on the coastal highway westwards towards the Tunisian border, while 300 miles east, rebel units are reported to have captured much of the oil town of Brega and be closing in on its refinery complex. The White House said it is "becoming increasingly clear that [Muammar] Gaddafi's days are numbered" but a Nato spokesman urged caution.

•The UN's special envoy for Libya, Abdel-Elah al-Khatib, has said he is meeting with representatives of both sides of the conflict there. Al-Khatib, the former foreign minister of Jordan, arrived in Tunis yesterday for meetings with Muammar Gaddafi's representatives and those of the rebels. There were no direct negotiations, he said, as he met the two sides separately.

•Libyan government forces have fired a Scud missile for the first time since the conflict with rebels began, according to US defence officials. No one was hurt. The missile launch was detected by US forces shortly after midnight on Sunday and the Scud landed in the desert about 50 miles (80km) outside Brega, an official told the Associated Press.

Yemen

•President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been recuperating in Saudi Arabia since an assassination attempt in June, has made a televised speech in which he said he would return to Yemen soon. He criticised the opposition but called for early elections and said he is willing transfer power to his vice president if the opposition pulls armed tribal fighters from the streets and ends its street rallies.

Morocco

•Morocco's early elections have been scheduled for 25 November. The elections had been expected in late 2012 but they were pushed forward as part of democratic reforms following Arab spring protests in the kingdom.

Bahrain

•In Bahrain, the royal fact-finding committee formed to investigate protests in the Gulf state has been forced to close its office after being mobbed by protesters. It was besieged by complaints after reports that it had found no crimes against humanity were committed by the government.

Egypt

•Amnesty International has condemned the arrest of Asmaa Mahfouz, one of the faces of Egypt's revolution, on charges of slandering and inciting violence against the country's ruling generals through social networking sites. The human rights group called on the Egyptian authorities to drop the charges.